EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 23/04: Hydro notifies Rusal of possible force majeure declaration; Access World delists LME warehouses in Vlissingen; US Ali billet upcharge hits all-time high

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday April 23.

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange led the rest of the base metals higher during Asian morning trading on Monday, with the red metal benefitting from strong fundamental support.

Tin was the laggard, however, with its prices weakening slightly.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.11 am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 7,016.50 24.5
Aluminium 2,504.50 477.5
Lead 2,345 -20
Zinc 3,258 25.5
Tin 21,615 -110
Nickel 14,810 -20

SHFE snapshot at 10.12 am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne)  Change since Friday’s close (yuan)
Copper  51,880 480
Aluminium 14,985 30
Zinc 24,545 150
Lead 18,395 70
Tin  148,390 -90
Nickel  105,000 740

Hydro has notified UC Rusal that it may be necessary to declare force majeure on certain contracts due to the United States imposing sanctions on the Russian aluminium producer, Hydro said last Friday.

Meanwhile, Glencore-owned Access World has delisted 12 of its 20 London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Vlissingen in The Netherlands amid outflows of aluminium stocks after sanctions were imposed on Rusal.

The 6063 aluminium extrusion billet upcharge hit an all-time high in the US this past week, coinciding with concerns among extruders regarding their ability to continue operating in the wake of sanctions against Russia.

Hydro has halved bauxite output at its Paragominas mine in Brazil due to a government-imposed production cut at the company’s Alunorte alumina refinery.

European spot prices for molybdic oxide and ferro-molybdenum have increased after a withdrawal in spot supplies of oxide prompted a bout of short-covering that is likely to persist in the near term, according to industry sources.

The mood at this year’s Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries convention and exposition was upbeat, though drastic shifts in trade policies combined with transportation challenges throughout the US market have left the industry carefully navigating uncharted territory.

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